wemvsWurmWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: wem is a pronoun, Wurm is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“wem” is a pronoun and “Wurm” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#2,002
“wem” frequency rank
#11,791
“Wurm” frequency rank
13793
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature wem Wurm
Definition Dativ von wer wirbelloses, bilateral-symmetrisches, langgestrecktes Tier

Where the eye mixes wem and Wurm

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.

3 ch
wem
4 ch
Wurm

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: wem is [veːm] while Wurm is [vʊʁm]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 1 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (pronoun vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 13793, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

wem is recorded at frequency rank #2,002, classified as apron, pronounced [veːm]. Wurm is at rank #11,791, tagged as anoun, pronounced [vʊʁm].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 13793, this pair ranks #1,955,656 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of wem vs Wurm

Shared letters: mw. Private to "wem": e. Private to "Wurm": ru.

"wem" · 3 letters · shape CVC  ·  "Wurm" · 4 letters · shape CVCC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Wurmuwrm · wrum · wumr · wurmm · wurrm · wwurm

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "wem" and "Wurm" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "wem" is a pronoun and "Wurm" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "wem" or "Wurm"?
"wem" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,002 in our German list, against #11,791 for "Wurm". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

You've compared "wem" and "Wurm". Here's where to go from here.

  • Full dictionary entry for "wem" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "Wurm" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #1,955,656 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "wem" and "Wurm" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "Wurm vs Würth". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list